1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to vehicular run controlling apparatus and method for an automotive vehicle which detect a vehicular running environment surrounding the vehicle, for example, detect a preceding vehicle which is running ahead of the vehicle or a white line on a road surface on which the vehicle is running to perform a vehicular run control.
2. Description of the related art
A Japanese Patent Application First Publication No. Heisei 7-47862 published on Feb. 21, 1995 exemplifies a previously proposed vehicular run controlling apparatus.
In the previously proposed vehicular run controlling apparatus, when a vehicular driver pushes a set switch during a vehicular run, even with an accelerator pedal released, the vehicle falls in a, so-called, following control state such that the vehicle is running, maintaining an appropriate inter-vehicle distance from the vehicle to such a preceding vehicle as described above if the preceding is present, and the vehicle is cruising maintaining a previously set vehicular velocity if no preceding vehicle is present.
In addition, this following control state is released when the vehicular driver manipulates a brake pedal or the accelerator pedal or changes a present gear range position to another range of a vehicular automatic transmission.
Furthermore, when the vehicular velocity of the vehicle falls out of a predetermined controllable range of the vehicular velocity within which the vehicular velocity can be controlled during the following control described above, the following control is automatically released without intervention of the vehicular driver's manipulation for the vehicle.